Birch Tree Query

Just looking around the area and ive noticed our local authority have planted a lot of Silver Birch trees close to houses, buildings, along pathways ect (not recently, most are large mature trees) especially around the leisure centre where they are planted a couple of ft from the wall of the building. Are Silver Birch safe to plant like this? Do their roots not pose the same danger to foundations/underground pipes ect than other trees?

 

Planting any trees a couple of feet from a wall sounds a bit too near for me. I definitely wouldn't plant one a few feet from my own house wall!

 

Silver Birch aren`t very long lived either.

 

i find it very strange tbh, you'd think they'd know better i've read that Silver Birch are shallow rooted so maybe that makes them safer than other trees?

 

Birch trees are shallow rooted, they also have fine roots rather then large tap rooted. They also don't make big trees and are not long lived, for tree.

 

We had to have a silver birch taken down, it was a small tree when we bought the house and grew into a monster which totally shaded the front of the house and gave my daughter hay fever every year, as well as having roots which pushed up the path laid around the house. My son was so upset that my husband and he planted a seedling in the hedge about 20 feet from the house. Over the past 20 years it has also grown into a monster, shadowing my herbaceous border and adjacent greengage and damson trees. I suppose the local authority is using known varieties which are known to be small and not damaging.

 

Ariadae, are you sure you have a Silver Birch? Because they only grow about 15ft ( 5ish m )

 

Our silver birch is about 40 years old which is old for this species.Was huge but had it trimmed a few winters ago so it didnt bleed out,still 30ft tall. Has come back strong and healthy.It too has moved the paving stones next to the house but its staying because it shelters the pond from the sun so the water doesnt go green.The wildlife love it too.

 

Oh it definitely is! They grow them big in Shropshire

 

Here she is
You can get some idea of height from the bench!

 

Looks about the same as my one was before it was trimmed.Lovely trees.